NFL home and away betting tips

NFL home and away betting tips

 

So, there's been tons of debate on just how big of an edge home-field advantage gives a team.

Key factors like less interruptions, regular sleep patterns and how they impact a player's performance, or the noise levels from the hometown fans and whether or not officials play a role in home-field advantage. 

 

All important components to consider when wagering on any given NFL game.

And since sports bettors are always looking for tips to help improve their NFL betting, we've decided to look at some things to consider when it comes to placing bets on the home or away team. 

 

These are a few strategies that have been shown to be right most of the time. Of course, there is no 100 percent sure strategy, but this will give a betters some insight into how to wager when it comes to choosing the home dog or the road favorite.

 

So, let's start with the biggest question. Does the home team really have the advantage?

 

According to the experts — yes.

 

Statistics show that home-field advantage increases NFL team's chances of winning by 57.3 percent.

 

The reasons experts say are simple, and include the obvious theories like sleeping in your own bed and eating home cooking, to better familiarity with the home field and crowd support.

 

Other popular explanations are that home teams essentially get slightly preferential treatment from the officials. Case in point, analysts say that just over 60 percent of all soccer matches are won by the home team. For anyone that follows soccer, it's widely known that it is probably the one sport where the referee has more latitude to influence a game's outcome than the officials in other sport. But why not the NFL?

 

Of course that's not to say that an official's bias is on purpose, but rather an assimilation of the emotion of the home crowd.

So what about travel and the fatigue often associated with being the road team?

Some experts say that when athletes are at home, they don't seem to pass to catch the football any better, but others say a team's schedule and outcomes before a certain game, can have an effect. Like an extended road trip coupled with a string of losses.

 

It's definitely plausible that scheduling bias against the road team can play a factor in home-field advantage, particularly in the NFL where one Sunday afternoon game and a Thursday night game can take its toll on a team. 

 

With that being said, let's analyze a few factors.

 

Betting on the away team can sometimes yield big payouts, especially since odd makers often times label them as the underdog just for the fact they are on the road.

When betting on the away team there is one important thing to look at — how many road games have they played recently?

 

Although not a sure-fire system, bettors  should always bet against a team that is playing more than a second game in a row on the road.  Playing constantly on the road is an exhaustive process, so take advantage of this.

 

For betting on a road team that is playing two or less games away from home, gamblers can look at going against a favored away team that is trying to cover the spread for the second straight game. It is very hard for a team to cover the spread consecutively when on the road.

 

That brings us to why gamblers should bet on the home team.

The number one reason is, when the teams are evenly matched and the point spread is less to -2.5. In this case, we suggest always wagering on the home team, as they have the slightest advantage over the other team.

 

Secondly, if the home team is the underdog, bettors should take a chance and wager on the teams that won their previous away game while being the underdog, as they are now on home turf with excellent motivation.

 

Finally, has the home team won two or more consecutive games, especially as the underdog?

If so, then that's a good indictor they can get it home on their home turf.